1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a wound dressing incorporated into a garment for covering wounds on human and animal skin or to prevent wounds from developing on human and animal skin. More particularly, the present invention relates to a moisture vapor permeable dressing that is affixed or otherwise attached to a garment to facilitate manipulation of the dressing over the wound area.
2. Description of Related Art
Bed sores/pressure ulcers are pressure injuries that are just one type of trauma that can occur to skin. Generally it occurs from constantly lying in one position that prevents blood flow to particular tissue. As a result, the epidermis breaks down and then the dermis sloughs or shears off resulting in a shallow or deep wound.
Current approaches to treating these pressure injuries include foam based products, socks infused with gel using aloe or lanolin, or Latex products. However, foam based products tend to be bulky and add heat to the wound area inhibiting healing, socks infused with gel are non-therapeutic, and Latex applications have limited breathability.
In addition, most current wound care treatments include individual dressing pieces that imperfectly cover the wound. In fact, certain wound care treatments require cutting and applying customized dressing pieces which can be time consuming and makes rapid application of the dressing virtually impossible. Further, these cumbersome operations would have to be performed each time the dressing is changed.
For patients that are bed ridden, or are required to spend extended periods of time in bed, it is often difficult for them to spend the time in a single position whether it is on their side, prone or supine. As a result, there is often a need for constant repositioning of the wound dressing as patients shift about.
Therefore it is desirable to provide a wound dressing garment that addresses one or more of the problems identified above. As such, there is a need for a conformable wound dressing with high absorbency and an ability to fit different wound sites including the heel, elbow or other protuberances of a body without wrinkling or appearing bulky. In addition, the wound dressing garment should be useable with both bed ridden or ambulatory patients that allows treatment and monitoring of the wound. In addition to protecting and providing healing to wounds on the skin, there is a need to provide a system of preventing ulcers from forming, in particular to prevent the heels and elbows of patients at risk from ulcerating. In some instances it is also desirable to provide a wound dressing garment that allows for monitoring by a healthcare professional or individual.